[Tony]

This past friday, a good friend of mine went out riding with a few of his buds. I've been riding with him for about a year now, and we both took the MSF together. Unfortunantly, he hasn't been very fond of gear. Though I've told him on several accounts to always wear his gear, he has never felt the need to. Especially under the S. Cal sun. This Friday however, while in the canyons, he took a turn too fast and crossed over the little reflectors in the middle of the road, Thus cause his rear tire to wobble. He then pulled the bike straight to brake, but unfortunantly was going too fast and ran into a pile of dirt.... launching him over the bike and onto the ground. He suffered from mostly road rash on his left shoulder, left ribs, and arm. He was wearing jeans, t-shirt and helmet. His helmet visor broke off on impact and his jeans were torn from his butt down......

I wasn't present during his accident but when I found out about it, the first thing I asked was whether or not he was ok. He seemed ok about the crash and a little bummed about the bike. (It seems mostly cosmetic excluding the clutch lever being bent. ALL the plastics were damaged)

Now just yesterday I asked him if he would NOW consider his gear all the time....... and finally.... he said YES! Not to mention that he should save all the canyon carving for the track. Some people just have to learn the hard way. Though it's a shame to see your friends go down, it's nice to know they've learned from the accident. He is now looking to purchase his TZ-1 pants to go with his Alpinestars TC-1 jacket. (He had all his gear, but failed to wear it during the crash.)

Ride safe guys.....

 

[RoadRashed]

Speaking from experience......(see screen name).... It only takes ONE get-off for most people to start wearing their gear. Glad he got to learn his lesson the "easy" way and is o.k.. I didn't........

 

[karl_996]

alot of guys don't learn the first time.

it is good he did.

I hope he is okay.

 

[Avery]

I live in one of the hottest places on the planet when you factor in humidity. I always wear full leather. It may be uncomfortable but road rash hurts like a bitch! I had a friend of mine learn this same lesson several weeks ago.

Hope your friend is OK!

 

[Destitute]

Move somewhere cold!

Glad your buddy came out alright!
No problems wearing gear up here, it's too friggin cold not to wear it! My bike wouldn't start this morning (She's all fixed up now, though) Now that I'm comfortable going faster I wear everything I've got! I give partial credit to SBN/CFC members for my wisdom.

 

[Epitome]

its funny....i guess people dont realize that they could go down.....and i guess never have had the experience of rash.......i have had rash more times than i can count from bicycles, skating, etc.... if at 15mph, it hurts so bad....i really dont want to know what it is like at 50

 

[ZoomByU]

im thankful for this forum and before sbn preventing me from learning the hard way by buying my gear before i buy the bike.

 

[RoadRashed]

its funny....i guess people dont realize that they could go down.....and i guess never have had the experience of rash.......i have had rash more times than i can count from bicycles, skating, etc.... if at 15mph, it hurts so bad....i really dont want to know what it is like at 50

Try sliding down the pavement 110 feet in a tank top after getting t-boned by a car and having a foot crushed...... Sad thing is that I had my leather jacket strapped to the back of the bike because it was "too hot" to wear it. What a mistake that was..... You will NEVER see me without a jacket on now, I don't care if it is just a 2 minute ride up the road.

 

[chocoruacal]

Speaking from experience......(see screen name).... It only takes ONE get-off for most people to start wearing their gear. Glad he got to learn his lesson the "easy" way and is o.k.. I didn't........

Anybody who needs road rash to teach them that wearing gear is a good thing, probably has less brains than that monkey in your avatar

After all the road rash I had as a kid from low speed stuff, there's no way I'll chance it on my cycle. I can't believe that people actually push it without gear out in the country. I mean, I know NOBODY wears gear while pimping in the city, but c'mon!

 

[IcEyZf]

Damn! That's pretty sad he had to learn the hard way about wearing the gear.:shake Hope he learned his lesson and realized how lucky he was it wasn't worse!

 

[karl_996]

Anybody who needs road rash to teach them that wearing gear is a good thing, probably has less brains than that monkey in your avatar

that is not a monkey, that is RoadRashed after sliding dwon the road.:laughing

 

[stylemaster53]

alot of guys don't learn the first time.

it is good he did.

I hope he is okay.

Yep I agree with that. A buddy of mine had to put his down on Sunday. It wasn't bad or anything but he had no gear on. A car blew a stop sign as he was comming out of a corner, he hit the brakes and the bike went into a stoppie. Luckly it didn't flip but when the ass end came down it tipped over on top of him because he was at an angle.

I asked him if that scared him enough to start wearing his gear. He wears jeans, t-shirt and no helmet. His answer, "Hell no if I had a helmet on I couldn't have heard her car". Some people just don't learn and he got lucky, THIS TIME!

 

[101Lifts2]

Try sliding down the pavement 110 feet in a tank top after getting t-boned by a car and having a foot crushed...... Sad thing is that I had my leather jacket strapped to the back of the bike because it was "too hot" to wear it. What a mistake that was..... You will NEVER see me without a jacket on now, I don't care if it is just a 2 minute ride up the road.

Wanna show some pics?

 

[RoadRashed]

Wanna show some pics?

I WISH I had some good ones. This happened back in 1995....before digital cameras were very popular. I will see if my wife will take a few of the pictures in to work and scan them. Just for you. I think I have a good one of my toe (ripped off during the accident) when it had turned completely black and was rotting away. They eventually had to remove even more of my pour toe than the accident did........... I will do my best to get a few of them scanned in.

BTW, BEFORE the accident I wore my gear about 95% of the time. The day the "big slide" happened, I had just pulled over about 5 minutes earlier and strapped my riding jacket to the back of the bike........... My brain knew to wear gear, my body just needed a little more convincing to make it permanent.

 

[RoadRashed]

that is not a monkey, that is RoadRashed after sliding dwon the road.:laughing

Come on now! I had a full faced Arai on.....like always. I looked like that Monkey BEFORE the accident............. :redflip

 

[quickquarter]

During my early adventures on SBN/CYCFO several comments were made about buying gear prior to buying the bike while spending as much as possible on the gear. I took that advice, and I bought my gear in that order (Thanks Guys!!!). I do not have full leathers, but I have a Dainese R jacket with matching gloves and the Alpinestars Web boots. After I am competent to canyon carve and participate in track days I will invest in the matching leather pants and Sidi race boots. I have been guilty of riding without the jacket on occasion due to hot weather, but 95% of the time I have on all of my safety gear.

Thanks again guys for all that early advice (you know who you are).